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Spell Rarity
In Master of Magic, spells are divided by Realm and by Rarity. The rarity of a spell determines how many Spellbooks a wizard must obtain to be eligible to acquire that spell, how likely a wizard is to acquire that spell as a result of getting more Spellbooks, and how likely a wizard is to find that spell in Treasure. Rarity also correlates to a spell's Research Cost, with rarer spells taking longer to research. There are four categories of Rarity: * Common Spells * Uncommon Spells * Rare Spells * Very Rare Spells Each magical Realm has 10 spells in each of these categories, totaling 40 spells per Realm, and 200 spells in all. The realm has 14 additional spells which are not subjected to the rules of Spell Rarity at all. They are always available to any wizard regardless of how many Spellbooks he or she has. Rarity Categories All non- spells are divided into 4 categories of rarity, as follows: Common Spells Uncommon Spells Rare Spells Very Rare Spells Guaranteed Repertoire A Wizard's initial repertoire - the number and type of spells he/she can cast at the very start of the game - relies entirely on the number of Spellbooks from each magical Realm that he/she possesses upon creation. If a Human player possesses at least 2 spellbook in any realm, he/she will be able to choose one or more spells from specific Spell Rarity categories. These spells are called "guaranteed spells", and will be available for casting right from the very first turn. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the number of guaranteed Common Spells from each Magical Realm is exactly X-1, where X equals the number of spellbooks of that realm possessed by the wizard. Therefore, with 2 spellbooks in a realm, the player may choose 1 guaranteed Common Spell from that realm. With 11 spellbooks, the wizard is guaranteed all 10 Common Spells from that realm, and does not have to choose at all. Uncommon and Rare spells can only be picked as guaranteed spells if the wizard possesses 11 Spellbooks in a single realm. Only 2 Uncommon and 1 Rare spell may be picked as guaranteed. Very Rare spells cannot be selected as guaranteed spells, regardless of how many Spellbooks a wizard possesses in any realm. The table below shows how many spells from each Rarity category may be selected as "Guaranteed" spells, depending on the number of Spellbooks the wizard has in any specific Realm: This table describes guaranteed spells in Master of Magic v1.31. In earlier versions of the game, distribution leaned more towards higher-rarity spells, and allowed picking Very Rare guaranteed spells when possessing a large number of Spellbooks. Research Availability During the game, wizards can increase the size of their repertoire by conducting Spell Research. However, there is a limit on the number of spells that may be researched in each Spell Rarity category within each Realm. This limit is set by the number of Spellbooks the wizard possesses in that Realm. The limit can only be exceeded by acquiring spells through external means, such as Treasure or Diplomacy, or by acquiring additional Spellbooks during the campaign. These limits include spells that have already been granted as guaranteed spells (see above). The spells that will be available for research are chosen randomly for each Rarity category in each Realm. Therefore, a wizard with few Spellbooks in a realm will not be capable of researching certain spells from that realm. He/she may still acquire those from external sources, as mentioned above, but cannot research them. The table below illustrates these limits, based on the number of Spellbooks in a single realm: If the wizard manages to increase the number of spellbooks he owns in a single realm beyond 11, this does not increase the number of available spells any further (since they are all available already). For example, a wizard with 1 Spellbook in a realm may research 3 Common Spells from that realm, and 1 Uncommon Spell. He/she may not research any additional spells from these rarity categories, and may not research any Rare Spells or Very Rare Spells. If, during the campaign, that wizard acquires a second Spellbook of the same realm, he/she may now research 2 additional Common Spells, 1 additional Uncommon Spell, and a single Rare Spell of that realm. As mentioned above, "guaranteed spells" picked at game-start (if any) count towards the total. Therefore, if a wizard starts the game with 2 Spellbooks in a realm, he/she is guaranteed one Common Spell, and so will only be able to research 4 additional Common Spells from that realm, rather than 5. The guaranteed spell will already be available from the very first turn, and does not need to be researched at all. This also means that a wizard with 11 Spellbooks in a single realm will not have any Common Spells to research - since all of them are already available for casting at game-start (see previous section). Random Selection At game-start, and at any time when the spell limit for a given wizard is increased, the game will randomly select any spells from the appropriate Rarity category (or categories) to populate the research lists. The choice is entirely random within that rarity category, excluding any spells already known to the wizard. :For example, when starting a game with a wizard possessing only Spellbook, the game randomly picks any 3 Common Spells and any 1 Uncommon Spell from the Realm, and adds those spells to the wizard's research lists. :Had the wizard started with , and picked as his guaranteed Common Spell, the game would instead add any 4 Common Spells from the Realm other than '''Resist Elements' to that wizard's research list, as well as any 2 Uncommon Spells and any 1 Rare Spell, at random. When a wizard acquires an additional Spellbook during the game, the limits are increased according to the table above, and the game will automatically populate the wizard's research list as necessary to meet the new limits. Again, the game may pick any random spells except those already known to the wizard, and those already on the research lists. If a wizard has already acquired additional spells to meet or exceed the new limit, no new spells are added to the research list. :For example, lets take a wizard with Spellbook. Initially, this wizard has 3 Common and 1 Uncommon Spells available for research. During the game, this wizard has performed some spell exchanges and won some treasures, earning two additional '''Common Spells'. If this wizard acquires a second Spellbook, the new limit is now 5, but since the wizard already has 5 spells available (regardless of how many of these are available for casting and how many have yet to be researched), he/she does not gain new spells for research. He/she only receives a new Uncommon Spell and Rare Spell. Correlation with Research Costs It should be noted that a spell from one Rarity Category will always take more time to research than spells from a "lower" Rarity category, and always take less time to research than spells from a "higher" Rarity category. This is the only direct correlation between a spell's rarity and its in-game effects. Casting Costs, Upkeep Costs and even the spells usefulness may vary, though they are all usually higher for rarer spells. Rarer spells, however, usually provide a stronger benefit to justify these higher costs. A scant few higher-rarity spells have a similar effect to some lower-rarity spell, but coupled with a lower Casting Cost - giving a better cost-efficiency rather than a stronger effect. Arcane Spell Rarity There are 14 spells in the game, but they are not categorized by Rarity. This is mainly because all 14 spells are available to any wizard regardless of the number or distribution of the Spellbooks he or she possesses. Exactly two of these spells are always "Guaranteed" and available for casting immediately: * Magic Spirit * Spell of Return (cast automatically when needed) With the Artificer Retort, two additional spells are added: * Enchant Item * Create Artifact There is no way to "guarantee" any additional spells. Category:Magic